The calendar flips this week to August, a month synonymous with the dog days of summer, when TV viewing drops dramatically. But the eighth month also has had these five key TV moments:

The Fugitive (Aug. 29, 1967) The series finale: Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen), who had been on the run for four seasons after being falsely accused of murdering his wife, finally confronted the One-Armed Man, the real killer. At the time, it was the most-watched episode in TV history.

The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (Aug. 1, 1971) Beginning as a summer-replacement show, it would go on to become one of the decade's biggest hits. "The Comedy Hour" revived both the variety-show genre and the careers of its hosts.

People Are Talking (Aug. 14, 1978) Unless you're from Baltimore and of a certain age, this probably means little to you. But the debut of this local talk show would have a huge effect on TV: It marked the talk-show debut of a 24-year-old named Oprah Winfrey, who had been co-anchoring the news.

MTV (Aug. 1, 1981) With its playing of the Buggles' video of "Video Killed the Radio Star" at 12:01 a.m., the upstart channel clearly signaled that a music and television revolution was at hand.

Late Show With David Letterman (Aug. 30, 1993) Spurned by NBC in his quest to host "The Tonight Show," Letterman decamped to CBS and the newly refurbished Ed Sullivan Theater. First guests? Bill Murray and Billy Joel.